The attached article from the Herald Sun of 29th December will be of interest to many I am sure.
Please note that the area being referred to is not the Parade Ground but the area near Jarman Oval.
Read the full article here – The Herald Sun 29 Dec 21
And here is an update – 22 February 2022:
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month marks the moment the guns fell silent on the Western Front after the bloodshed of World War I. Over the past century, this moment has been adopted across the globe as a time to remember those who served and sacrificed in all wars and conflicts.
This will be the first Remembrance Day that the statue has been in location.
Our friends at the Rye RSL have made the journey to lay a wreath. Thank you to John Wilson and the team at Rye RSL who monitor the site.
A recent article in the Peninsula Essence provided some historical information on the Point Nepean Quarantine Station and was based on content provided by Ossie Kleinig (Dec 57) amongst others.
The addition of the new statue features in the article.
You can visit the Peninsula Essence website here or read the article in this extract.
Enjoy!
The statue concept origianlly developed by the late Bob de Haas has beeen implemented. The feedback the Alumni has received has been extremely positive.
We have been advised that there have been many visits to the site and we have received considerable positive feedback. Most recently, we have been advised that the local community is responding quite positively to the construction of the statue.
We would love to hear the thoughts of those who have visited the site. If you have visited, please use the Comments section to provide us some feedback on your experience.
The Memorial Statue Project has now been completed. Well done to all involved. Ossie Kleinig (Dec 57) has compiled his last report that provides the current situation in relation to the project.
Thank you Ossie for all your efforts and for being the driving force behind the project.
You can read that report here.
The following is a post by John Goodchap from the OCS Facebook page for those not into social media.
Anzac Day 2021 OCS Portsea Memorial Statue – Graduates of Jun 74 laid a wreath at 1000hrs in remembrance of those who paid the supreme sacrifice. Attendees were (left to right) Bernie Hartley (wreath layer) representing NZ, John Goodchap and Colin Judge. Portsea was at its best weather wise, being crisp and sunny. As can be seen in the photo the statue is attracting attention as on arrival another wreath and single rose was already at the site. Hopefully this will be a continuing trend. LEST WE FORGET
Well done that team. Perhaps the start of a tradition?
One of our well known and he would have many believe, better looking graduates, Terry Holland is seeking assistance in finding a missing artefact. He has provided the following as background.
‘When we were cadets at OCS, around the time of Julius Caesar, we had a ‘dinner bell’ in the cadets’ anteroom. The ‘bell’ was a shell from the Boer War. It was a small calibre shell of about 40 – 45 mm calibre and was about 300 mm long (but I am not very good at these new little measuring things). The shell hung from a wooden frame and was, of course, highly polished! On the shell was engraved ‘Toll’s Revenge’. There may have been more, perhaps ‘Boer War’ or ‘South African War’ and/or a date, I cannot now remember. No one at the college in my time knew the provenance of ‘Toll’s Revenge’. When the Officer Cadet School was amalgamated with the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1985, all of the OCS mess property was apparently sent to the Officers’ Mess at Duntroon. Some years ago, I made a casual enquiry at Duntroon concerning the whereabouts of ‘Toll’s Revenge’. No-one to whom I spoke had any knowledge of it; generally supposing that it is probably in storage somewhere at RMC.
Major (later Colonel) Frederick Toll, was a very fine and decorated soldier who served in both the Boer War and WWl and held defence appointments in WWll. His force was ambushed at one stage and the lot ‘went into the bag’. This was for a short time only before the force was released and was later back in action. I wondered if some action fought after this ambush and capture was seen as a ‘revenge’ and ‘Toll’s Revenge’ was fired then. (Perhaps something like the WW ll occasional practice of writing cheery notes on bombs destined for Germany, e.g., ‘Happy Birthday Mr Hitler’ or ‘Do not return to sender’ etc. ?).
The Toll’s are a leading family in the Bundaberg area and I have established their direct link to Colonel Toll. The family has stated that they would be very grateful if this piece of family memorabilia could be returned to them.
So, I am hoping that someone in ‘our mob’ might have an idea of where ‘Toll’s Revenge’ may be (or if it is taking pride of place in someone’s shed after having been rescued from recycling on the break-up of OCS) . If there is no information forthcoming, I may approach the RMC Commandant for his help. As you would well know, requests of this nature need to be reasonably well substantiated and have evidence of search in other areas (but mainly be a bit interesting). So, I would be very grateful for any help you may be able to provide please.
yours,
Terry’
If you can provide any insight, please reply to Terry through the webmaster@ocsportsea.org email initially. Any photos would be appreciated.
As an aside, more information on Toll is available here.
Thank you.
Rob Murray
Webmaster
Here is the latest update. Progress Report No 18 Web Ver
In addition, here are a couple of photos with grass surrounding the foundations. Progress is taking place as we await arrival of the finished statue.
Here is the latest update. Progress Report No 17
In addition, here are a couple of photos of the plinth now in place. Just waiting for the statue to be finalised. Please note that new turf will be laid around the foundations once the statue is in place.
The progress towards having the statue in place at Portsea is under way.
Previous reports have indicated that there have been several rounds of work on the preparation for casting the statue. This is now nearing the final stages with the pouring to take place shortly.
Work has also begun at Portsea to build the footings for the statue. The photos below show :
Work will continue to finish the footings and then once the statue arrives, it will be mounted. Timeframes depend on current pandemic restrictions.
